The present invention generally relates to die cutting processes and, more particularly, to a mechanism and method for robotically mounting a die on a rotary die cutter backing drum.
In the corrugated cardboard container industry, it is common practice to first fabricate corrugated board as a continuous web and then cut the web into pieces of a desired length. A die cutting process is then used to cut and score the pieces to produce container blanks of desired sizes and shapes.
Typically, in setting up the equipment for production of container blanks of a desired size and shape, a cutting die in the form of a plywood substrate having cutting and scoring knives attached thereon in the proper configuration to product the blanks is first mounted on a backing drum of a rotary die cutter. The backing drum of the rotary die cutter and the plywood substrate of the cutting die have holes which are pre-tapped and pre-drilled, respectively, and arranged in identical patterns for receiving screws to fasten securely the cutting die onto the drum.
One major shortcoming of the prior art setup procedure is that a person is required to manually place the cutting die on the rotary drum and then install all of the screws required to mount the cutting die and draw it down to the surface of the drum. This is a labor-intensive and time-consuming task which constrains the overall productivity that can be achieved.
Consequently, a need exists for a different approach to cutting die setup which will allow improvement in productivity.